by Xelan Bonn

Created on: September 22, 2007   Last Updated: January 07, 2008

Imagine paying as little as $500 down payment on your new homeis it really possible!

Yes. First, you must understand aggressive down payment techniques, which are not part of traditional financing systems.

Lenders often require 10-25% down payment, determined by a combination of the buyer's income and credit worthiness (e.g. time employed, credit rating, etc.), home value, general market factors (tight or loose money markets, local economy outlook, etc).

For a home that cost $250k, coming up with 10% or $25,000 for a first time home buyer can be daunting. So how can you buy a home using aggressive down payment strategies? Let's start with the basics.

First, you must realize you are not going to get your dream home the first time out (not likely). You goal is to secure your first house and build up equity that you can later use to secure the home of your dreams. These strategies will help get you there.

Second, fix your credit up as best you can while you are searching for your first home. There are plenty of articles on how to do this so we'll assume you will get informed and take steps in that direction. Better credit equals better opportunities.

Third, pick sellers, not houses. Forget shopping for the perfect house and shop for the perfect seller. How? Contact your local real estate agent and tell them you are looking for homes that have motivated sellers.

A motivated seller is someone who has had their house for sale for a longer than normal period, or has a home suffering from fix-up issues, or has back payments due, or is willing to apply some form of seller financing, etc. Basically, you are looking for someone who will be open to your needs.

Forth, again, be flexible and look at everything, including fixer-uppers. See the potential. Realize that the first house will take sacrifices. This means you're going to have to overlook a few things. See past the dirt and grime to your cleaned up version of it. A little elbow grease can go a long way so you need to see opportunity where others dare not go.

Fifth, make lots of offers. Not every offer is going to be accepted. Most will not. Use a standard contract and make sure it has a great escape clause (write in yourself). This is what I use: "This purchase is subject to the approval of my wife or advisor." That's it. That means I can walk away from the deal anytime after the buyer accepts my offer so I'm not afraid to write lots of offers. This is a numbers game. Each offer brings you closer to a "yes."

Sixth, write only

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